18. Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a footstool attached to it, covered with gold. There were arms on each side of the throne, and the figure of a lion stood at each side.
19. Twelve figures of lions were on the steps, one at either end of each step. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.
20. All King Solomon's cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.
21. He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22. King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world.
23. They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given him.
24. Each of them brought Solomon gifts — articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.
25. King Solomon also had 4,000 stalls for his chariots and horses, and had 12,000 cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.
26. He was supreme ruler of all the kings in the territory from the River Euphrates to Philistia and the Egyptian border.
27. During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycomore in the foothills of Judah.
28. Solomon imported horses from Musri and from every other country.
29. The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in The History of Nathan the Prophet, in The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in The Visions of Iddo the Prophet, which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.
30. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
31. He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.